'She had a bright future ahead of her': Family seeks justice after UNC freshman overdoses on Duke campus
The family of a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill freshman student who died after overdosing on fentanyl-laced cocaine on the campus of Duke University is seeking some justice for their daughter.
So far, no one has been charged in the death of Elizabeth Grace Burton, or Gracie as her family called her. She was 19 years old.
Lawyer Chris Adkins is representing the Burton family. He said the Burtons are trying to assert their right as crime victims under what’s called the Crime Victims Rights Act.
"Gracie was an intelligent girl," Adkins said. "She had a bright future ahead of her."
Court documents reveal Burton became "unsteady" and "wobbly on her feet" about an hour after meeting with a suspected drug dealer on March 9 outside a Duke student's dorm. The former Duke student is Patrick Rowland, who pleaded guilty to a drug distribution charge.
An autopsy revealed Burton died two days after investigators said she met up with Rowland after a party and contacted him to buy cocaine.
The state medical examiner's autopsy mentions a urine sample taken from Burton hours after she overdosed that morning in March. The autopsy states the sample detected cocaine and fentanyl.
However, the cause of death doesn't list the synthetic opioid alongside "cocaine and ethanol" -- or alcohol.
Adkins said that's making it difficult for Burton's death to be considered a crime.
"It’s been a long process," Adkins said. "It’s been frustrating, and it’s been drawn out and a fight for us to be recognized as crime victims."
The suspected dealer, Cye Frasier, who investigators said met Burton and Rowland on March 9 at Duke is charged in connection with the death of a Raleigh man who died that same month. An indictment said Frasier knowingly distributed cocaine mixed with fentanyl to that victim.
Adkins said the Burton family is also seeking to be recognized as victims of Frasier, like they're doing in Rowland's case. It would allow them to seek restitution.
On Wednesday, the judge did not decide whether to recognize Burton as a victim in Rowland's case.
"They’re not being recognized as crime victims, and I think that’s important because when they’re recognized as crime victims they have certain rights, such as the right to be present at the trial and speak at the trial and get their story out there, [and] get Gracie’s story out there," Adkins said.
Frasier is scheduled to go to trial next month on charges related to the other death investigation.
Duke University did not respond to WRAL News’ request for comment on Wednesday.
WRAL News asked Adkins whether he thinks Duke failed Burton.
"To our knowledge, there’s been no investigation done by Duke," Adkins said. "Duke has essentially punted this to the federal government to prosecute for drug related charges and has ignored seeking any kind of justice."
Adkins said he didn’t know why Duke didn’t pursue an investigation or make a public incident report available about what happened.
